Indian Family From Long Ago (1957)

[Music] the winter is over now many Sue families leave their winter hunting grounds in the hills and go down to the plains to hunt the Buffalo herds red horn the hunter is father of this family he rides first to protect them from enemies Catana his son has seen 11 Summers but cattana is still too young to hunt yellow flower is chetana's sister she walks with the women their mother is oasa she leads a horse which drags their teepe poles loaded with Emily goods and grandmother walks last keeping up with the youngest they have journeyed many days and at last they come to the land where the Buffalo herds graze at the new camping place the women and girls put up the teeps the teepee must face the East braced against the strong wind from the West yellow flower walks round and round she ties the poles tight with a long strip of Buffalo hide then they put the buffalo skin cover around the frame and Peg it down to the ground small sticks fasten the front a hole at the top will let the smoke out from the fire inside soon the camp is set up while the women put up the tepes some of the men go out to hunt food on Hills near the new camp might be rabbit or deer they will bring enough meat until the buffalo hunt each day Catana must learn from his father the things a man must know how the great spirit wakantanka made all things Sky Earth grass and the buffalo he hears stories of great hunters and warriors who were his ancestors and he must know every skill of the hunter how to track the Running Deer when the prairie dogs come out of their holes the hickorywood makes a strong bow to use buffalo senu for the bow string that Flint makes good Arrow heads to strike deep into the animal then he must learn to hit a Target in this way Catana practices for the day when he will be a hunter like his father redhorn there is time for games too but even in games the boys always learn a man's work sometimes they play at hunting Buffalo now they pretend to kill with little sticks but when they become men they will kill with arrows and the Lance they may forget these happy hours some days they play with a rawh hide ball it is a contest test each tries to be best and the games teach them to be skillful and quick as Hunters must be the work of the camp is women's work the girls learn from the women when yellow flower takes a husband she too will make clothes from Buffalo or deer skin as her mother does dyed porcupine quills make the design the thread is Buffalo senu the all is made of Buffalo bone grandmother teaches a girl to fold stiff Buffalo hide into boxes to carry dried meat a box like this is called a par flesh the women have painted bright designs on each par flesh with kindness and love the Sue teach their children what they must learn today the women are cooking rabbit meat yellow flow's mother uses a buffalo stomach filled with water she heats the stones very hot she puts the stones in the water to cook the meat but rabbit meat or deer meat is not enough there will be more meat after the buffalo hunt [Music] after Sundown the chief sends a scout to search out the herd the Scout may look for many days while they wait for the Scout to return red horn remembers other hunts and he paints their story on his teepee he cut the brushes from a buffalo's shoulder blade his paints are mixed with glue from the scrapings of a buffalo hide these are the stories of his life the journeys to different camping places the Thundering herds they have followed the Swift horses he has ridden soon perhaps there will be a new exploit to add to these stories while the men wait in Camp the women prepare for the time when they will have fresh meat and hides they go to find berries to mix with the meat once it is dried this will make the food called pimkin they cut pegs to stake the Skins down for scraping and drying they set up Cottonwood racks to dry the meat on when these things are done the women are ready on the morning of the second day the Scout returns standing Soldier the crier walks through the camp calling out the hunters [Music] and on this morning Catana the boy can ride his White Horse to watch The Hunt he is old enough now to see how red horn strikes down his kill no I you now they are close enough now they can hunt [Music] [Music] [Music] red horn can give thanks he has killed his Buffalo two other Hunters have killed Bulls too the cows grieve beside [Music] them but the hunters have enough food now there is Buffalo for all in the camp the herd has gone it is safe for the women to skin the dead and cut up the meat back at the camp yellow flow hangs the meat on the racks to dry in the Sun and wind later they will mix some of the dried meat with the berries to make peman the hide is still soft and wet it can be stretched out to dry with pieces of buffalo horn the women scrape off the shreds of meat later they will tan the hide then they will be busy using the tan skin to repair the teepee to make new moccasins and leggings the work is hard for the women and girls it is long but they are happy for there is enough for [Music] [Applause] all this night they feast in the Tepee to celebrate the hunt chana's mother is proud of red horn red horn tells stories of other hunts and dangers [Music] past soon cattana dreams I too will sit as a great hunter before the [Music] fire this night there is peace and feasting in the camp but the plains make no promises to the Indians in days to come the Buffalo will move on to new pastures the family will need meat and skins for The Long Winter they will move on to the place where all the families of the tribe gather for the big summer hunt again the women must break camp and pack everything the family owns goes with them the teepe cover the poles clothes dried meat for the journey packed in par fleshes all their goods loaded on the travois poles to be dragged by the horse the family waits for the signal to move then all move [Music] on mother leading the first travois Chana the boy grandmother and yellow flower this family and other families moving to follow the wandering herds always following Buffalo for this was the way of the people who lived on the Great Western Plains [Music]