Plains Indian Studies - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

52 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY
The Provider
Several narratives relate that a warrior, after
having been scalped, was revived by a mysterious
being who gave him supernatural power and
thereby made him holy. Subsequently, the
scalped man himself was able to provide for the
wants of others (either a relative or a lone hunter),
so long as his identity was not revealed and he
did not have any intimacy with humans. There
is thus a small set of transitional stories that
intergrade with the previous and following sets
and that portray the scalped man as a provider
for another person.
A popular Arikara story, which occurs in several
forms (e.g., Dorsey, 1904a: 149-151), tells
about a lone hunter who, while lying on a hilltop,
saw a scalped man kill a deer in the valley below
and then disappear with it into the side of a
distant hill. The hunter went to the spot where
the scalped man had entered, and when he found
the door he himself went in. The hunter then
learned that long ago the scalped man had been
killed in a battle and later he was revived and
blessed by Night. Now he travelled at night as a
spirit and was able to take scalps, capture horses,
and catch eagles without difficulty. He asked the
hunter what he sought; and when the scalped
man was told that he wished for horses, he said
that he would bring the hunter a herd. The man
must, however, remain in the cave while he was
gone and later must not reveal his identity or
location to anyone. The next morning the scalped
man returned with horses for him and said that
the man was to give one of the horses to the
scalped man's wife and son after he returned to
the village. On numerous occasions thereafter,
the man returned to the scalped man's cave to
obtain horses, scalps, and eagles. He became
known among the tribe for his bravery and finally
became a chief Years later, however, when he
became ill, he told the people about the scalped
man who was responsible for his success. A party
then went to the scalped man's cave, but they
found no one there. The scalped man had told
the man that were he to divulge his, the scalped
man's, location, he would know; and now the
betrayed benefactor had moved to a new dwelling
and was never seen again.
In a similar Arikara story a young man lost his
brother in a battle and later could not find the
body. After searching everywhere he finally discovered
a scalped man who turned out to be his
slain brother. This scalped man, too, provided
the brother with horses, scalps, and eagles, but
insisted that his identity and location not be
revealed to anyone. As a result of the things his
scalped brother gave him, the young man became
noted among his people; but finally he tired of
keeping the secret. When he told people how he
had achieved his success, his tshunuxu' brother
disappeared, never to be heard from again.
Melvin Gilmore (1933:39-43) recounted another
Arikara story in this category. There was a
man who had been scalped in battle, and his
wife, thinking him dead, used to go outside the
village to mourn for him. One day her husband,
who had been watching her, revealed himself and
explained that he had been blessed by a mysterious
being but was to be forever separated from
the living. Afterwards they met frequently, and
her husband supplied her with provisions and
other gifts. He, too, insisted that his identity be
kept secret. One evening after they had been
meeting, their old love overcame them and they
had relations. The scalped man immediately felt
remorse and expressed regret for having done
something he should not have done, for now, he
explained, he must die. He told his wife where
his cave was and said that if he did not return to
her the next evening, he would be dead. Then she
and his relatives should come to the cave and
divide among themselves the supplies that he had
stored there. And indeed it happened as he had
said. After he did not meet her the following
evening, the woman told his relatives. The next
day they went to the cave and there found his
dead body. After dividing his accumulated supplies
and goods, they sealed the entrance to the
cave with the body remaining in it, and then
returned home.