From Pawnee Folklore
(Told by Good-Food-in-Kettle, a Kitkehahki woman, who claims to be descended from the family mentioned in the story. This is considered one of the best of the Kitkehahki stories, and recounts the origin of a certain medicine ceremony. It especially taught the people that the stars in the heavens can send one of their number to the earth to teach their ways. The supposed meteor which struck the girl, as related in the tale, was found and was in the possession of the family for many years, but was lost.)
A long time ago the Kitkehahki had many ceremonies, but they did not have any medicine-men’s ceremonies. In one of their villages on the Republican River was born a baby girl. She had a birthmark upon her forehead. Some said, “It is the picture of the Moon.” Others said, “It is the picture of some Meteor or Star.” As the child grew people noticed that her actions were peculiar. In the daytime she stayed in the lodge most of the time. At night she went outside and either stood near the entrance or went upon the top of the lodge. She always looked at something in the heavens and sometimes seemed to be counting the stars. Her mysterious ways surprised the people. Her aged father said, “Let the friends and relatives of this girl let her alone.” She was given full freedom to run around through the timber or anywhere she wanted to go. When she became older her parents kept her inside the lodge.
In olden times it was customary for the old people to make for their daughters mats from rushes and a pillow from the hide of a calf that was only a year old. The hair was left on the hide, and the pillow was sewed up with sinew and the hair of buffalo was put inside. Whenever there was a rainstorm the mats and pillows were tolled up and placed upon the beds. During the day they were used around the fireplace in the lodge. The old people made the mats and a pillow for the girl, who was growing into a beautiful young woman. The girl understood how to take care of her pillow and mats; also her buffalo robe.
One day when the people were sitting around the fireplace, all at once the girl jumped up and said, as she started to go outside, “Mother, I believe there is going to be a rainstorm.” The men looked at one another. The woman all said, “It will not rain, for it is clear; there are no clouds.” As the girl was returning to the lodge it thundered. The girl then said: “I knew it was going to rain. Do you all hear that?” The people arose and went out and stood facing the west, where great dark clouds were rolling. The girl did not go out, but sat down upon her pillow by the fireplace with bowed head. The people came in and began to roll up their mats. They spread them upon their willow beds and lay down under them, for they knew that the lodge was not well covered with grass and dirt, and that it would leak. The girl still sat by the fire. Once in a while her father would throw the mat back from his face and look at the girl. She sat with bowed head, now and then looking up at the hole in the top of the lodge where the lightning flashed repeatedly. After a while she arose and went out of the lodge, but soon she returned to her place by the fire. At last she pulled her mat over by the northwest post; then she placed her pillow by the post and lay down. The rain was now pouring down. The old man watched his daughter and saw that now and then she would stick her head out from the robe. As she stuck her head out the lightning flashed, and it thundered very sharply. Smoke filled the lodge. All the people were stunned.
When the father of the girl came to, he looked about and saw fire on the side of the lodge where the lightning had struck. He went to where his daughter lay, and saw smoke coming from her head through a round hole. He raised her head and saw that the pillow also had a round hole through it. He removed the pillow and there in the ground was another hole, and smoke was coming from it. The man then cried and said, “People, arise; my daughter has been killed by lightning.” The people arose and gathered around the place, although they were afraid to go near a place where lightning had struck. The father began to dig into the ground where the lightning had struck. The father began to dig into the ground where the lightning had struck, and kept on digging into the ground until he touched something with his fingers. He kept on digging until he dug the thing up. It was in the shape of a woman. It had a head, shoulders, and body, and was of many colors. The man showed the thing to the other people and he told his wife to get a piece of tanned buffalo hide. This was brought, and then the downy feathers were taken from the body of an eagle and they were placed at the altar. The father brought in some cedar limbs and placed them upon some live coals. He made teat from cedar nuts and poured the tea into a wooden bowl. A flint was placed in the wooden bowl, and the scent of the skunk was placed in the tea. The father then took some live coals and placed them by the wooden bowl; then he placed some cedar limbs upon the live coals. The people were then told to wash with the tea; then to place themselves over the burning cedar limbs, so that the smoke would pass over their bodies. Each person’s face was smeared with the mud where the lightning struck the ground; then each went where the stone was placed and made a prayer. The father was the first to go to the stone. He spoke and said: “Father, yonder lies my daughter. You took her life. I will not cry, for in place of my beautiful daughter you came, and are now in her place in my heart. You are from the heavens and have taken my daughter. Keep the power that you had while you were in the heavens. Give me and teach me your powers, for from this time on you shall be my father.” Then the man left and the other people came and talked to the stone. After all this the lodge was swept and the people washed themselves. After the lightning struck the girl the clouds disappeared and the sun shone brightly.
The next day the father invited his male relatives and told them that the lightning had struck his daughter. He told them that it was not a flint, but was an object the shape of a human body. The men sat around in a circle while the girl was laid out where she had been killed. The father told the other men that he did not know whether to take the stone and bury it with the girl or to keep it at the altar in the lodge. The pipe was filled and given to one of the men. The man lighted the pipe, then arose, walked to the stone, and blew a few whiffs to it and said: “Father, smoke; you shall be one of us; you have taken one of our daughters, but we know you are from the heavens and have great powers. You shall remain with us.” After smoking, the man passed the pipe on. He then took the stone and passed it over the body of the girl; then placed it again in its place. Every time a pipe was smoked, the ashes were placed before the stone. After the smoking was over, each man reached and lifted the stone. Although it was small it was very heavy, and so they called it “iron stone.”
The people began to make preparations to bury the girl. She was taken up on a high hill and a grave about two feet deep was dug. Two forks were set at the head and foot of the grave. A pole was then laid in the forks. Poles were then set upon each side and the girl was set inside. Grass was placed on each side, then dirt. The father talked to the people and said: “I do not mourn, for I believe that the gods in the heavens favored my girl and that they have taken her. Let us go home and think that the gods have taken her.” The people all went home, but the father stayed around the grave and at last went to sleep.
In a dream he saw his daughter. She stood up and he saw a bright star upon her forehead. Her hair was plaited smoothly, and on the back of her head were eleven eagle feathers all strung together so that they looked like a moon. The girl spoke to her father and said: “My father, the gods have favored me; I am now staying by the moon. I am not among out people, but am among the gods. The stone in your lodge was a god, and was in the heavens. The lightning did not kill me; it was the stone that fell from the heavens. Stay not around this place longer, for I am to turn to stone and well not be able to hear you if you speak to me. Go home and make your bed on the north side of the stone. Let your pillow be bear the stone, for it will speak to you when you asleep. It is a god. When you speak to it, it will listen to you. The other gods will favor you in many things, for one of their number will be present with you.”
The girl disappeared; then the father moved and opened his eyes, but for a long time could not see, for the light about the girl had dazzled his sight. At last he could see plainly, though it was night. He went home and told his wife that he had seen their daughter and that she had told him to lie by the stone. The woman said, “Husband, do what our daughter told you to do.” The father made his bed by the stone and laid down. While he was asleep he saw in his dream a man standing at the head of his bed. This man said: “My son, I liked your daughter. I came to her and killed her. I lost my place in the heavens. I am now here with you. I am one of the gods. Keep me at the altar, and do not let people come around where I am; keep them away. Cover me with the hide of a buffalo; in front of me make a little hole, and in this hole pour water, so that you will have fresh mud to put upon my body. You see I have the soft downy feathers upon my head. You did right when you put downy feathers upon my head. See, my robe is turned with the hair outside; my face is daubed with mud; red paint is around my mouth. I hold in my right hand something like a gourd rattle; in my left I hold an eagle wind; you see I am a medicine-man. To-night I will tell you that I am not the Lightning; I am a god. Your daughter is gone. I now take her place, and I will from this time on teach you to be a medicine-man. I stood high up in the heavens. I know where the animals’ lodges are, but these animals’ lodges will be, after I have opened the entrance, in the earth. It will be through my power that you will understand all these things.”
The next day the father sat up, but neither ate nor drank water. He went out to the creek and took a bath; then he went into the lodge again and picked up some mud from the holy place. He laid his hands upon the stone and said: “My father, my heart is glad, for I saw you last night. This mud I put upon my head and face. I will now go out upon some high hill; there I will stand and fast. If it is your wish that I fast and mourn let me know while I am there.” The father then went out of the lodge and went west. At the first hill he came to he stopped and began to cry; he stayed there until night, when he fell asleep. He dreamed that he saw the same man, and that this man told him not to mourn or fast; that some time in the future he would be told where to go and where to stay; that then the animals’ lodge would be opened to him. The man did not stay upon the hill any more, but went home. He lay down by the altar and did not dream anything.
For several days he lay by the altar without dreaming. One rainy night the man lay down by the altar where the stone was, and while it rained and stormed he slept and dreamed that he saw a man who represented the stone, who told him that the times had come when he should go to a distant place where the animals’ lodge was. The man awoke; the rainstorm had passed. The man went out and stood upon the lodge and cried.
He stayed upon the lodge until there was another rainstorm; again he dreamed, and this time he dreamed that he saw the strange man again, who said: “To-morrow you must leave the village. Go to the place that is known as Swimming-Mound upon the Republican River. Your people you shall take with you, and also the stone. When you have reached the mound, place the stone upon it; take your place upon the south side of the stone, facing north. Once in a while walk around the stone in a circle, so that the grass will be trampled down. You will stay upon the mound until a rainstorm shall come. When it thunders, watch upon the banks of the Republic River; wherever the lightning strikes upon the banks, there go. Carry the stone with you. There you will find a clump of trees upon the bank. There you will see that the lightning has struck many times. The dirt shall have been moved away, and there you will find a hole; crawl into this hole and placed the stone at the entrance. Go through the entrance and you will find that it will become larger. As you go through the entrance you will notice that the passage will lead you under the Swimming-Mound. As you approach the animals’ lodge you will hear all kinds of mysterious noises. You will hear the noise of rubbing on the sacred stick of the animals. When you hear this, sit down and you will see an animal coming from the animals’ lodge. The animal will pass you and will go to the entrance. As the animal comes to the entrance and sees the stone, it will stop. It will then return, pass you, then enter the animals’ lodge. The animals will then find a way to remove the stone from their lodge entrance. While they are mediating over this, appear. The animals will see you and will make a request of you to remove the stone. Tell the animals to give you their power; that you will then remove the stone. As you stand upon the hill, do not care for the mysterious voices that you will hear.”
Source:
The Pawnee Mythology: Part 1, George A. Dorsey, 1906
Kotharian Lightning 