16

GLO: SWELP

Duckhead Necklace went to the bear chief’s tepee and told him
he was doing wrong by starving the people. Duckhead Necklace
ordered the bears to leave and live in the mountain forest. He also
took their talking away. The bears moved away. With the bears gone
the people settled down to a peaceful life. Duckhead Necklace stayed
in this village for awhile but then decided to travel on.


7 PZ

we
v4
y



They continued to travel until one day they came upon a high
ridge. Far below by a river there was a large camp and the girl said,
“Here are our people. Our parents live in this camp. We are going to go
down there but I want you to go to your parent’s place. That is where
you belong anyway.” They started down the ridge to the camp. As soon
as they came close to the encampment all the dogs barked and barked.
They smelled something and ran in the opposite direction. The dogs
knew a soul was coming alongside the young man. That was why they
were barking. The people felt strange. A man was coming and the
dogs were barking at him. The dogs had not done that before.

35


10

Sometimes he would go hunting for small animals and birds.
Often he was lucky and he would kill a sage hen, duck, bush rabbit,
prairie chicken, or other small animals which made his grandmother
very proud. One day when he was taking a walk he came to a big lake.
He saw a large whale swimming around. He shot and killed it with his
bow and arrow. He went back to his grandmother’s tepee and told her
what he did. His grandmother left saying she was going after
firewood. She did not return for several days. This happened many
times. Each time she came back her hair would be hanging all over
and her arms and her legs would be scratched up and bleeding. Long
ago that is how Indians mourned for someone they had lost. Duckhead
Necklace’s grandmother was in mourning. In those days animals
could change to people and people could change into animals. Duck-
head Necklace had killed a whale. The whale that he had killed was
his grandmother’s husband. Duckhead Necklace was very sorry but
he did not know the whale was his grandmother’s husband.


Indian Love Story
narrated by George Shields, Sr.

21


40

The soul of the girl stayed with the young man for four years.
One day the girl said to the young man, “I have been living with you
for four years. I promised that. Now four years are up and every-
thing that you have been wishing for on this earth you have with my
help. I cannot stay longer than what I have promised so this is
the end. I have a sister. She is a very beautiful woman. I want you to
marry my sister and always be good to her. She will take my place. I
want you to love my sister as much as you have loved me. You and
she are going to have a very good life from this day on. Take my
sister as your wife. Always respect her and love her.” The young man
told his mother what this girl said. The man’s mother went to the
girl’s parents and told them what her son said. They were willing
and happy. “These are our departed daughter’s words and we cannot
refuse them. We will do as she wishes.” They had a big gathering
among the man’s relatives and friends, as well as the bride-to-be’s
relatives and friends. In those days they exchanged gifts on both
sides. The couple was married by an old warrior who performed the
marriage ceremony and they lived happily ever after.


Duckhead Necklace

narrated by Isabel Shields


fi as ‘
2

= eee en =n
ina CES, cea iB oe =,

2 Z

ie syiees

mee

She said, “My folks sent me some food and we are going to eat.
But before we eat I want to tell you this. I told you this was going to
happen. Now you sleep by me. You don’t fear me. You don’t hate me. I
pitied you again. After we eat we’re going to go home to your people,
my people.” She looked like she did when she was alive. She had good
clothes and nice combed hair. After they ate she said, “When we go
out, fix this doorway the way you found it. Fix it so that no animal can
get in there.”

33


Duckhead Necklace walked along until he came to another
village. There the people were living with beautiful white birds. For
awhile when the men went hunting everyone shared equally. As the
white birds began to get bolder, they began taking more of the meat
or anything the men brought back from hunting. The people told
Duckhead Necklace, “The birds have taken over. The birds eat what
they want and let the rest of the meat spoil. The people are
starving.”

Duckhead Necklace went to the bird chief’s tepee and asked
the birds to move away. The bird chief refused saying he was
satisfied with the way they were living. Duckhead Necklace asked
them several times but each time the birds refused.

17


Wate

\ Mel

in Sriteps
The man said, “I know all that but that isn’t enough for me.

I want a name for myself before I ask for a wife. I just have to go.”
They argued back and forth. Finally, the girl gave up. She

never said anything. She just stood there and hung her head. It was
night so the young man could not see if the girl was crying.

25


19


34

They went to find their families. They traveled day after day.
Finally the girl asked, “Are you hungry?” The young man said, “Yes,
I’m hungry now.” “Well, do you see that herd of buffalo over there? Go
over there and kill that young fat buffalo. They won't see you because
I will give you my power.” she said. He killed the buffalo. The girl
came over and they butchered the young buffalo. They cut out the best
parts of it and cooked it.

They continued on towards home day after day. This was during
the summer. The sky was clear. The grass was green. The trees by the
river were covered with green leaves. Every now and then they saw a
herd of buffalo. The buffalo would not pay any attention to them. They
could not see them because the young woman gave the man that
power.


14

One day he came to a buffalo wallow. He thought, “It’s been a
long time since I was told not to drink from buffalo wallows. I don’t
think anything will happen now.” He took a drink and a snake went in
and settled in his head. He was in there a long time. Duckhead
Necklace’s body turned into a skeleton. Still the snake stayed for
awhile longer. The snake finally came out. As soon as he came out,
Duckhead Necklace came back alive. He grabbed the snake and
rubbed his nose on a stone and made it flat and told him he would have
a flat nose forever.

Duckhead Necklace continued traveling until one day when he
was walking along he saw a village. He sat on a hill watching the
camp. He noticed the bears and people were living together. He went
down to the first tepee and went in. The people told him to sit down.
They gave him something to eat. After eating, the men smoked. The
people told him that at first everyone got along just fine, but now the
bears took most of the meat and they let the rest of the meal spoil.
“The people are starving and we can’t do anything about it.” the men
told Duckhead Necklace.


One day, she thought she had enough rawhide for her rope. She
connected the rawhide strips together and made a long rope. She took
the rope and went to the hole she had found. She tied one end of the
rope to a rock and tied the other end around her waist and let herself
down the hole very slowly. The rope wasn’t long enough. She was left
hanging in mid-air.

In the meantime her husband came home and found her gone.
He looked all over for her. He thought of looking at the hole in the sky.
There he found her hanging at the end of the rawhide rope. He picked
up arock and said, “Split her in two but don’t hurt the baby.” He threw
the rock down and hit the woman. She fell to the ground and died. The
baby boy was also hurt. He stayed by his mother until he could walk.




The next night the war party went looking for their enemy.
They found them and fought. The young man killed an enemy and
took his scalp and other things for coups. They won the fight and
started back. The return trip took many days.

28




One evening two Indian girls sat outside looking at the stars.
One star was very bright. One of the girls said, “I wish that bright star
would come down and get me. I would marry him.” The next evening a
young Indian man came from an opening in the sky. He was a hand-
some man and he was dressed very nicely. He took the young Indian
girl back with him into the sky and they were married.


15




This is a true story. It happened hundreds of years ago,
back in the days of the buffalo when the Indians roamed this
country as freely as they pleased.

In those days Indian people of different tribes did not
understand each other’s language. They fought each other
some of the time. The fighting brought honor to the victor. An
Indian that earned many coups from his enemy was con-
sidered a chief. What the whiteman calls a horse thief, long
ago was considered honorable in the Indian society. The In-
dians made horse raids and advised the younger people that
had horses not to be sleepy heads. “If you sleep late and don’t
wake up at night, you are going to go around by foot. You
won’t have any horses if you sleep too long. You will be easy
prey for enemies.”

23


Duckhead AecHlace

and
Indian Love Story

The Indian Reading Series



Ke. SHEL Ss

There was an old woman living in a tepee not very far from
where the little boy was. She knew there was a child living near her.
One day she wanted to find out if the child was a boy or girl. She placed
a doll and a bow and some arrows near where the child was staying.
The next time she went to look, the bow and arrows were gone so she
knew the child was a boy.




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.

i

3.

4.

5.

10.

11.

. 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

|. 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


30

The young man felt uneasy about saying somebody passed
away. “I'll go over there and look.” he said. When he came to the side of
the tepee his heart fell but he didn’t cry. The tepee was staked down
solid all around. The doorway was entwined with sticks so that
wolves, or coyotes could not get into that tepee and eat the dead
person. He undid all the twigs and sticks and peeked inside. Just as
soon as he stuck his head inside the doorway he recognized his
blanket. There his sweetheart lay dead, covered with the blanket.
When he saw this he wanted to make sure. He went over to the body
and uncovered the face. Sure enough, it was his sweetheart. He went
back to his war party.


One day they came to an old camp ground, the same ground
which they left some long days before. The young man began looking
around the campsite. He walked to the river and came back saying,
“I found something. While we were gone someone must have died.
The person was buried in the tepee in the woods over there.”

29


It was a very beautiful place where he took her to live. She was
very happy and enjoyed everything. There were many things for her
to do. She could do almost anything. There was one exception. She was
told not to dig large green turnips. After awhile she started to get
lonesome. She would take long walks looking for the hole in the sky.
One day she realized she was to have a baby. This made her want to
return home even more.

On one of her walks she saw some big green turnips. Even
though she was told not to, she dug one up. It left a large hole. She
looked down and saw the place where she used to live. She began to
make plans to go back. Every time her husband would bring game
home she would tan only part of the hide. She would cut the rest of the
hide into strips and dry them to make a rawhide rope. She was trying
to hurry as it was almost time to have her baby and she wanted to be
home when the baby was born.


18

The next time the men went hunting, Duckhead Necklace
went along. He changed himself into a buffalo calf. He told the men
to shoot him. They did. The white birds came to eat the meat the
men had killed. The bird chief chose the buffalo calf. He flew down and
landed on the calf. As soon as he landed Duckhead Necklace grabbed
him. With his hands he stroked the bird chief from his head to the
end of his tail. The bird chief turned black all over. These birds
became knows as ravens. Duckhead Necklace took their talking
away also. The birds no longer could rule the people. The people
were very happy and said many good things about Duckhead
Necklace. Duckhead Necklace knew his grandmother would be
proud to know he was doing good things for other people.


After awhile the young man came back to his mother’s tepee.
The girl’s soul went wherever he went. His mother said, “My son,
you've been acting very strangely. Tell the truth. Why /e you acting
like this?” The young man said, “Mother, the girl that passed away at
the old camp is with me. She’s right here.” When he said that the girl
smiled. After that his mother set two places, one for the girl’s soul and
one for her son. When his mother did that the girl was very happy.

37


38

The young man would eat everything, but the girl’s food was
always left uneaten. Time went on until a war party was getting
ready to leave. The girl said to the young man, “You have to make a
name for yourself so we must go along. You said you liked horses. It
is time to get some.” They went in broad daylight and took horses
from the enemy. It was like the horses strayed off by themselves. No
one could see the man because the girl gave him the power to be
invisible. He made many horse raids, each time getting many
horses. He became a big chief.


26

He went back to his tepee and got a good robe fixed with por-
cupine quill work. It was fancy, one of the best robes. He took the
robe back to the girl. “I’m going to go,” he said. “While I’m gone I
want you to keep this. When I come back I want to see this blanket
and you. You and I will get married if our parents consent.”

He left. He didn’t even kiss her because they didn’t do that in
those days. The girl just stood there while he disappeared into the
darkness.


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


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



11


mapa Sie es

¥

13


THE INDIAN READING SERIES
Stories and Legends of the Northwest

Duckhead Necklace

Indian Love Story
Level V Book 15

By members of the Assinboine Elders Board of the
Fort Belknap Reservation

Leo Wing, Chairman

Preston Stiffarm, Coordinator
George Shields, Sr.

Jim Walking Chief

Juanita Tucker

Estelle Black Bird

Jenny C. Gray

Illustrated by George Shields, Jr.

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



36

The young man went to his parent’s camp. His mother was very
glad to see him. She cried and cried hanging onto her son. She said,
“My son, I’m glad you came back. We heard what you did and we were
scared. Our enemies are still near that place. I’m glad you came back.
Sit down and drink this water. I will feed you.” He sat down on his bed.
His parents had fixed it just like he had been sleeping on it.

He sat down and his sweetheart sat down beside him. The
people could not see her because a soul cannot be seen by a living
person. The man’s mother began to feed him. “I’m going to feed you.
Your father just killed a young buffalo and we have good meat.” she
said. She fed him and put some water beside the food. Before he ate the
food he took the water and the food and put it beside him, right in front
of the girl. He continued talking to his parents and after awhile he
took the food and ate it. Everytime they fed him he did that. He
wouldn’t touch the food and water until he took it and put it on his left
side. Finally, his mother noticed the strange way he was acting.

One day, after the young man went outside his father came in.
The mother said to him, “My son has been acting very strangely. He
never acted like this before. I have noticed his strange ways since he
came back.” The father said, “I’m going to visit somebody and ask why
our son is acting so strangely. Something must be bothering him. I
don’t know what it is.” The father left to visit another camp.


24

There was a young Indian man who was the only child of a
married couple. He met a young Indian girl who was one of two
children. The young man fell in love with this young girl and they
talked of love, but they didn’t touch each other. They would stand
many feet apart, just close enough to hear what was being said to
each other.

Time went on and there was to be a war party. The young man
wanted to see his sweetheart before he left. After the sun went down
he went to his girlfriend’s camp. He went near her tepee and the girl
came out. It was early dusk and she saw the young man standing
there so she went close enough to hear what he had to say. The young
man said, “I came to tell you that tomorrow night a war party is
leaving. I want to go. I want to make something of myself. When I
come back we will talk to our parents. I will talk to my parents and
you talk to your mother and father and perhaps we can marry.”
While the man was talking the girl never said anything. She just
bowed her head.

After he stopped talking the girl said, “Is that all you wanted
to tell me?” The young man said, “Yes.”

“Listen,” she said, “you are suggesting that you want honor so
people will recognize you, maybe as a chief. Why do you want that?
Your father is a great chief, a respected man in his prime. Your
people respect you as much as they respect your father. You don’t
have to go. Some people who go on war parties never come back.
What if that happens to you? What’s going to happen to me? My
heart is for you. My beliefs are for you. My love is for you. If I lose
you I’m nothing. I don’t think I will go on living. I love you that
much. I don’t want you to go. You don’t need anything else than what
you have now. You are respected already. You ride good horses. You
wear good clothes. You have plenty to eat. You live in a good tepee
with your father and your mother. What more do you want?”


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:

@ Lloyd Smith-Warm Springs
Chairman

© Clement Azure — Devils Lake Sioux

© Walter Moffett — Nez Perce

e Emmett Oliver — Quinault

© Bob Parsley — Chippewa

@ Helen Redbird — Cherokee

@ Max Snow

e Jeanne Thomas — Warm Springs

@ Bill Yellowtail — Crow


32

He said, “That dead person is the girl that told me not to go on
the war party. It is the girl I promised to marry when I came back. She
told me that ifI didn’t listen to her and stay, she would die of loneli-
ness. She told the truth. She died because of me. I’m the one that
caused it so I’m going to stay here with her. She’s a woman and she’s
out here all by herself. I’m a man and I should be with her.”

Another wiser man said, “No, don’t do that. She’s been gone fora
long time. Come back to our people with us. These are things that
happen. If you stay here you can’t bring her back. It’s just going to be
harder on you.”

But the young man just wouldn’t accept it.

Finally, the wise man said, “All right then. You stay but don’t do
any harm to yourself because of her. She’s in the happy hunting
grounds with the rest of her relatives that have gone before her.”

“No, I won't do anything. I just want to stay with her for four
days.” the man said. “Take the horses and the scalp that Ihave and
give them to my father. Tell him what I am doing and that I’m going to
come back.” The rest of the men left him and he went back to the
camp, the burial grounds. He went inside the tepee and crawled in
along side his sweetheart, right along side of her dead body. The man’s
body touched her dead body and he lay there. The first night he didn’t
sleep a wink. He knew he was laying beside a dead body. The second
night he was able to sleep a little and the third night he slept well. The
fourth night he slept very soundly. That morning it was just as if he
were dreaming. He heard movement inside the tepee and a fire was
burning. The wood of the burning fire was crackling. He just lay there
because he thought he was dreaming. Suddenly, he heard a woman’s
voice. “Get up. You're going to eat.” she said. But still he just lay there.
He still thought he was dreaming. Again the woman spoke and the
fourth time he opened his eyes. There was a fire inside the tepee, right
in the middle, the way they used to make fires. There also was food
cooking. His sweetheart was sitting there by the fire.


41


27


One day the boy walked to the end of a forest. He saw a lone
tepee. As soon as he was close to it a voice called to him, “Come in my
grandchild. I have been expecting you.” The little boy went in and sat
down. He saw an old woman sitting opposite him. She told him to stay
with her. He had the bow and arrows that she had left at the place
where the little boy was living. She taught him how to use the bow
and arrows. She tied a duck head on a buckskin string and put it
around the little boy’s neck. She told him it was to protect him at all
times. His name would be Duckhead Necklace.


12

One day when Duckhead Necklace was walking he came to a
tepee. From inside a voice told him to come in and sit down at the head
of a circle of young men. Each man took turns telling him stories,
hoping to put him to sleep. Duckhead Necklace went to sleep right
away, but while he slept the duck head hanging around his neck was
saying “Yes” for Duckhead Necklace. In the Indian way, as long as
someone says yes, the stories go on and on. These young men planned
to kill Duckhead Necklace after they had put him to sleep. These
young men were actually all snakes. Duckhead Necklace woke up and
found out about their plan. He grabbed one of them with his hands
and stroked him from his neck down to his tail and said to him,

“You are to crawl on the ground always.” In turn, the snakes told him
never to drink from a buffalo wallow. (That is water standing in small
pools.) Duckhead Necklace left. Whenever he came to a buffalo wal-
low, even though he was thirsty, he always remembered to go on.