From Wichita Folklore
There were three people living together in a grass-lodge, in front of the north door of which stood a large cottonwood tree. We know that the grass-lodge generally has two doors. The doors of the grass-lodge opened north and south. In this lodge lived the Thunderbird-Woman (Geleazigits), Little-Big-Belly-Boy (Wekskuniwidiks), and the Libertine (Skiwis). The Thunderbird-Woman did all the cooking and hauling of wood. Little-Big-Belly-Boy did the water-carrying, and the Libertine did all the hunting, for he was a strong man, and had many powers. They lived here for a long while, and Little-Big-Belly-Boy and the Libertine always had a good time, for the Libertine was very strong, and would carry a whole buffalo whenever he killed one.
Once upon a time as the Libertine was going out hunting, a small piece of grass fell on his back and he could not get up, for somehow or other he could not lift little things. This small grass was a heavy load for him, and so he called for Little-Big-Belly-Boy to help him, but Little-Big-Belly-Boy wished to have some fun with him, and so he let the grass stay on his back until he was so tired that he gave out. Then Little-Big-Belly-Boy took the grass off his back and he returned home instead of going hunting. In order to cure his soreness, the Libertine took out a cottonwood tree by the root and stood it on his back and got the boy to bring some more wood and place it all around the root, and set a fire on it until it got hot. Then he took it off of his back, and was pretty well healed. Next morning he went out hunting and did not come back until late in the night. On his return, he caught a buffalo and brought it to their home alive.
Early next morning, when Little-Big-Belly-Boy got up and started to go out, he saw a buffalo standing at the door, mad as it could be. It drove Little-Big-Belly-Boy back into the grass-lodge. In order to tease the boy, the Libertine stayed in bed longer than usual, so that the boy could not go out of the lodge. The boy boy kept begging the Libertine to take the buffalo off to some other place. He asked him to kill the buffalo, take the hide and make a robe out of it for him. The Libertine stepped out and got the buffalo by the horns, shook it, and there was the robe for Little-Big-Belly-Boy.
Some time after, Little-Big-Belly-Boy, expecting to get even with the Libertine, caught a mouse, tied it by the neck, and put it by the door. Next morning, the Libertine got up early to step out, and there he saw something outside. He came right back and was afraid of it, and asked Little-Big-Belly-Boy to release the mouse, so that he could step out, but the boy remained in bed and laughed at the Libertine. Finally Little-Big-Belly-Boy got out of bed, and the Libertine asked him to do the same as he himself had done and make him a robe out of the mouse. So Little-Big-Belly-Boy stepped out, got hold of the mouse, shook it, and there was a robe for the Libertine. The next night the Libertine got into his bed, but could not put on his mouse robe, because it was too heavy for him. He had to get the boy to put the robe on for him. Later in the night he could not turn over, for the robe was so heavy, and he asked the boy to pull it off. The boy pulled off the robe, then the Libertine finally went to sleep. Some time after this, Little-Big-Belly-Boy got to feeling sad over something, and went without eating for a time, and he would not play the same as he had done before, so the Libertine asked him to tell him just what was the matter with him. Little-Big-Belly-Boy replied that it had been revealed to him that somebody would come and carry him off. The Libertine stepped out and showed Little-Big-Belly-Boy what he could do, taking his arrows and bow and shooting at the tree in front of the lodge. The arrow went clear through the tree; but the boy told the Libertine that that was not force enough, for this person who was coming to carry him off had greater powers than he. The Libertine comforted the boy, and told him that he would in some way protect him.
It happened that while the boy was out playing, he ran in, telling the Libertine that his enemy was coming. The Libertine stepped out, and saw it coming like a cloud, from the north; it was a large bird, called Sun-Buzzard (Aitsakadarwiya). It had wings, tail, and head, and small sharp flint stones all over its body. Its bill was like a sharp stone, so that nothing would go through it. The Libertine stepped out and the bird lit on the tree and the Libertine with bow and arrows show at it four times, but failed to send any of his arrows through it. After the shooting of all of his arrows the furious bird came down, put the Libertine on its back and took him in the direction it had come from. It went a long way, and the Libertine saw great water at the place where they were going to. They finally came to a small island, where the Sun-Buzzard had his nest on a high tree, into which it threw the Libertine. Then it passed on toward the east to some other place. The Libertine saw under the tree many human skulls and bones. This showed that the Sun-Buzzard had made a business of carrying off people and throwing them into its nest.
When the Libertine was thrown into the nest the young ones kept picking at him. He at once took one of the young ones and asked it whose child it was, and the young bird said it was the child of Cold-Weather-followed-by-Blizzard (Kitschasiyarni hasannaxqua), so he threw it down and killed it. He took up another and asked it whose child it was, and it answered that it was the child of Nice-clear-Weather (Otshasihiniton Sakatsasasaca), and so he put it down, saying that it was a good child. He took up another and asked the same question, and the young child replied that he was the child of Hard-Rain-followed-by-Hard-Wind (Kitsasaakossaniwaa), and so the Libertine threw it down and killed it. He picked up the last one and asked it whose child it was, and it answered that it was the child of Foggy-Day (Hassquawe). This was the weather everybody liked, and so he set the young one back again. These were the names of the parents of the children: Cold-Weather-followed-by-Blizzard, Nice-clear-Weather, Hard-Rain-followed-by-hard-Wind, and Foggy-Day. These were the children of the Sun-Buzzard, tow of which the Libertine had destroyed. After he had done this he came down from the tree. He had nothing but his bow, and so he took off his bow-string from the bow, stretched it as long as he could and made it long enough to put across the water. After he thought it to be long enough he took the string and raised it, swung it; brought it down and hit the water with it, and parted the water. When the water parted he ran fast through the dry place and go through before the water closed upon him. The Libertine went a long way and traveled pretty fast in order to get home before the Sun-Buzzard should get him again. Nobody knew how long it took him to get home, but he finally got there, and told Thunder-Woman and Little-Big-Belly-Boy what a hard time he had making his escape from the Sun-Buzzard.
They lived together for a long time, and when the Libertine told them that the Sun-Buzzard was coming again to get him they saw it coming, and it lit on the same tree as before. The three inmates of the lodge all stepped out, the Thunderbird-Woman leading the other two. They went toward the mountains near their home, and reaching them, the Thunderbird-Woman carried her two companions through them on her back. Of course, in going through the rocks they would close up behind her and thus make it harder for the Sun-Buzzard to follow. Finally they all sat down to rest, and they asked the Libertine to go and see if the Sun-Buzzard was still coming. He went and heard it still coming, and returned, reporting it to his friends. They all went to the place where they had come out, listened and heard it coming rather slowly. It come through and fell to one side, and the Libertine killed it. Then the three returned to the place where they had lived. When the Sun-Buzzard came out of the mountains its bill was broken off, and its wings were pretty well broken to pieces. The Libertine told his mates that he was afraid that the same thing that had happened to him might befall him again; and so he went to the woods, and said that he would be seen on the dead wood of the woods thereafter. The Libertine was then a Big-red-Water-Worm. (Kaatsiaquatskiwats). Thunderbird-Woman went off toward the north, and called herself Rain-Woman (Kihitskahhahikia). Little-Big-Belly-Boy went flying toward the prairies; he became Dry-Grass-Bird (Nineca, or, Achinikats), a small bird that lives in the grass.
Source:
The Mythology of the Wichita, George A. Dorsey, 1904
Kotharian Lightning 