A man, a very brave warrior, was married to one wife who he loved with all his heart. He was willing to give her everything. So after she had pestered the man coninously about letting her go and pick berries, even though there was an enemy tribe moving around, the man finally gave in and took his wife and some women to pick berries.
Not long had they been there when the man spotted the enemy tribe. The man threw his wife on the back of his horse and rode off as fast as he could. But the horse was not fast enough with all the weight. The man knew he has to throw his wife off of the horse. He knew the enemy tribe, the Snakes, would not kill such a beautiful, young women. Before he left her he vowed to return and rescue her from the Snakes.
When he got back to his tribe he assembled his men to go and fight for his wife. The man searched the Snakes camp, looking in windows for his beloved wife. When he could not find her he hid himself under the mud and waited for the women to come and get water.
When finally his wife made her way down the river bank he crawled out of his hiding spot and told her that six of her relations were waiting to take her home on the other side of the river. His wife replied "Wait, these people have given my a great many pretty things. Let me go back. When it is night I will gather them up, steal a horse and cross over to you." At first the man protested, then he gave in let her get her pretty things. He went back to his waiting warriors and told them that she would be there at night.
His wife went and told the chief that the sun had told her that there were enemy warriors across the river. The Snakes killed all the men except her husband. They brought him to his wife who acted like she had never seen him before.
She told the chief that the man has asked to be burned by ashes from his pipe and have boiling water poured onto his head.
Finally the man begs for death, he can not stand the torture anymore. So his wife tells the Snake people that the man wants to be given to the Sun.
When the Snakes had moved on to a new place to live, an old Snake women returned and helped the man who was very near death. She healed him and made him stronger. He decides he is not done. He will go to camp and get all his Piegan warriors and he will have revenge on the Snakes and his wife. The old women agrees to help him by marking the trail to lead him to the Snakes new camp.
When he arrived with his men to the Snakes camp he entered the house of the old women and told her to gather her family and keep them in the hut. The man did not want to kill her or her family.
Then in the very late of night the Piegans attacked and they were killing and stabbing people as quickly as they were coming out of thier lodges. His wife cried out: "Don't hurt me. I am Piegan. Are any of my people her?" They captured the wife and killed her by pushing her into a fire.
When the old Snake women came out of her hut she and her family were given one-half of all the horses and valuables the Piegans had taken. The Piegan chief offered to let her and her family join thier tribe and live with them. And so the Snakes joined the Piegans and lived with them until they died and thier children married the Piegans and there were no longer Snake people.
"The Bad Wife." Indian Mythology. Indian Mythology. 2006. 6 November 2008.
No comments:
Post a Comment