A group of Blackfoot men were camped on the backbone-of-the-world, as they called it. Camped high in the mountains a breeze softly rustled the tree leaves as evening fell. The camp fire was bright as the stories circled the camp and coloured the thoughts of the men.
Two Guns urged one of the group to tell the Old Man Story. And Black Bull also joined in to urge his older brother Tail-Feathers-Coming-Over-the-Hill to tell them the Old Man and Old Woman story.
More wood was put on the fire to ready the listeners and they all settled in as Tail-Feathers-Coming-Over-the-Hill began.
"But first," he said, "I must explain the Old Man. The Old Man (Nap i) was the god who created the world and all life upon it, and he was the god of the Blackfoot, until some centuries back, they got from the southern tribe another religion, of which the sun is the principle god. However, they still pray to Old Man, as well as to the gods of the later religion, although in time a great many stories have grown up about Old Man that make him appear to be more of a buffoon than a god. An interesting point about the word nap-i is, that, while the term for old man, its real meaning is dawn, or the first faint light, white light that gives birth to the day. And so, in common with the ancient Mexicans, various tribes and other tribes of the plains, the Aryans and other ancient races of the Old World, the original religion of the Blackfoot was the worship of light personified."
Let us have now the old chief's story of Old Man and Old Woman.
"Having created the world, the animals and the grass, trees, and all life upon it, Old Man realized that by having men live by themselves and women live by themselves he had made a mistake. He saw that they should live together. The camps of the two sexes were far apart: the women were living here at the foot of the mountains, in Cut Bank Valley and the men were away down by Two Medicine River. Each camp had a buffalo trap, and subsisted wholly upon the buffalo that were decoyed into it.
"As I have said, Old Man saw that he had made a mistake in keeping men and women apart. In fact, he found that he himself wanted a women; so he went to the men and said: 'You shall no longer live by yourselves. Come! We will go up to the camp of the women, and each of us get one of them.'
"The men were more than glad to do that; it was what they had been hoping to do for a long time. So they hurried to put on their best clothing, and neatly braided their hair, and then started off with the Old Man for the women's camp. When they came in sight of it, Old Man told them to stop right there, and he would go ahead and plan with the women just what should be done. They sat down, and he went to the women's camp. Himself, he had on his old soiled clothes; his fine clothes he had left back with the men.
"Arriving in the women's camp, he found only two or three of the women there; the women's chief and all the others were down at the buffalo trap, butchering the animals that they had that morning decoyed. When he told the few women that he found why he had come, he greatly excited and pleased them, and they started to at once run and tell the others to hurry up from the trap and meet the men.
"'But wait! Not so fast. I want a word with you,' Old Man called out; and when they came back to him, he asked: 'What kind of a woman is your chief?'
"'Everything that is good, and kind and brave, that is our chief,' one answered. And another said: 'Ai, She is all that, and more; and she is the most beautiful woman of us all!'
"This pleased Old Man. He said to himself, 'That is the woman for me. I must have her.' And to the waiting women he said, 'It is right that the chief woman should mate with the chief man. You women are to come to us, and each select the man you want. Now, tell your chief woman that the chief man is brave and kind and handsome and that she shall select him for her man. She shall know him by the way he is dressed. He wears buckskin shirt and leggings, embroidered with porcupine quills, and a cow-leather robe with a big porcupine-quill embroidered sun in the center of it. You tell her to take him for her man!'
"'We will do so!' the women cried, and started off for the buffalo trap as fast as they could run.
"Old Man hurried back to the waiting men, and hurriedly put on his fine clothes, the ones that he had described to the women.
"Trembling with excitement, and out of breath from their long run, Old Man's messengers arrived at the buffalo trap and told their wonderful news – that men had come to marry them; that each woman was to choose the man that she thought would best suit her. The butchering of the animals ceased at once, and the women started for their camp to put on their good clothes and re-comb their hair. They wanted to appear as neat and clean and well dressed as possible before the men. Yes, all ran for their camp, all except the chief woman. Said she, 'I cannot leave here until I finish skinning this spotted medicine calf. Go, all of you, and I will join you as soon as I can.'
The work took more time than she thought would be required, and when she arrived in camp with the valuable skin, she found all the other women dressed and impatient to go and choose their man. 'Oh well, it doesn't matter how I look,' she said, 'I am chief, I have a name; I can go choose my man dressed just as I am. How did you say the chief is dressed?'
"They told her again what he wore, according to what the messenger man had told them, and she said: 'I'll choose him; I suppose should marry Chief.'
"And so she went right on with the other's wearing her butchering dress, all stiff with blood and grease from the neck down to the bottom of her skirt, and her moccasins were even more foul than the skirt. Her hands were caked with dried blood, and her hair was not even braided.
"Their chief leading, the women approached the waiting men, all of them standing in a line, and singing a song of greeting. Old Man stood at the head of the line, very straight and proud, and of fine appearance in his beautiful new porcupine embroidered clothes. By these the chief woman recognized him from afar, and said to herself: 'He is a fine looking man. I hope that he will prove to be as good of heart as he is to look at.' And, leading her women, she walked straight up to him and laid a hand on his arm: 'I will take you for my man,' she told him.
"But Old Man shrank back, his face plainly showing his loathing for such a bloody and greasy, wild-haired women.
"'I take you for my man,' the woman chief repeated; and then he broke away from her hold and ran behind his men: 'No! No! I do not want you, bloody, greasy woman,' he cried and went still farther off behind his men.
"The woman chief turned to her followers: 'Go back! Go back! Go back to that hill and there wait for me,' she told them. And to the men she said, 'Remain where you are until I return. I shall not be gone long.' And with that she turned and hurried to her camp. Her women went to the hill. The men remained where they were.
"Down at her camp the chief woman took off her old clothes and bathed in the river. Then she put on her fine clothes, a pair of fine new moccasins, braided her hair, scented herself with sweet-grass, and returned to her women. She was now better dressed than any of them, and they had told the Old Man the truth when they said she was the most beautiful of them all.
"Again she led her women to the line of waiting men. Again Old Man stood first, stood at the head of them. But she passed him by, as though she did not see him, and he with a little cry, ran after her, took her by the arm, and said, 'You are the woman for me. I am the chief of the men; you must take me!'
"She turned upon him, and her eyes were like fire. She tore his hand from her arm, and cried, 'Never touch me again useless man. I would die before I would mate with you.'
"And to her women she said, 'Do not any of you take this man for your man.' And with that she turned and chose a man. The others then, one by one, took their choice of the men. When all had chosen, there was one woman who had no man; all had been taken except Old Man. She would not have him, and became the second wife of one of the men. The choosing was over; all started for the women's camp. Old Man, now very sad-hearted, was following them, but the chief woman turned and motioned him off. 'Go away. There is not food for you, no place for you in our camp,' she told him; and he went away crying, by himself.
"And that is what Old Man got for being so proud."