Glenbow Archives, Calgary, tape transcript, Fran Fraser Fonds, Fran Fraser s Blackfoot Culture Collection, RBT 29, recorded 1969 (?), Joe Cat Face (?) tells a story about a Blackfoot man whose wife betrayed him to his Crow enemies. Transcribed by Roland Bohr, Ph. D. candidate, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Department of History, August 9, 2002 (This tape contains recordings in Blackfoot and in English. Only the passages in English have been transcribed.] Start of tape: [The beginning is in Blackfoot, followed by a passage in English.] We as the Blackfoot Nation had seven tribes on the allied side. There is the Blackfoot from Gleichen, Blackfoot from Montana, Blood from Cardston, Sarcees from Calgary, Stoney from Morley, Peigan from McLeod, Brocket. There were seven nations, seven tribes were fighting against all different tribes in North America. When we all surrendered, made peace amongst our tribes, our enemies, we were driven, before we stopped battling, fighting each other, we driven the enemies so far to the east, over Saskatchewan border, up north, north way, around Edmonton area, and to west past the mountain, over the mountains, west of the mountains, and to the south into Montana, southern Montana. That s how far we driven the enemy. And we owned three rivers in our area, southern Alberta, so we own big part, half of Alberta we owned Blackfoot Nation owned it ever since. We still own this area today. [Here follows another passage in Blackfoot followed by a passage in English.] After our battles between tribe to tribe the treaty was signed between Queen Victoria s officers, representatives and Crowfoot, signed the treaty in 1870s. Now I am gonna start my old story between the Blackfoot Nation and the Crows. There was a member of the Blackfoot Nation who lost his wife to the Crow Nation. The Crow Nation captured this Blackfoot member s wife after a great battle between the two nations. I really missed my wife when the Crow Nation captured my wife. I loved her so much that I, I decided one day to go and look for my wife in Montana area amongst the Crows. After I decided to go south and locate my wife s camp amongst the Crow Nation, I had a meeting with my brothers in law, my wife s brothers and my born brothers that we were going south to try and locate my brother in law s sister and my brothers. So we went 1
south, took off for south, into Montana area. We got into Montana area, try and locate the camp. Took us two, three days to locate the camp. So finally we did locate the camp and I know the area. I was down there before. I know the place pretty good. So I told my brother in laws and my brothers: I ll go down there. You see that spot way down below, in the bottom of the river there? That s the spot where the women folks comes for their water. There s one spot just the women, you know in them days the women do all the work, labour work, carry water and wood, but the man looks after the food, hunting. So I took off, sneaking along the river. As I got to this spot where the women got their water, and I went through the brush and sat there, alongside the road. So there was so many Cree, eh Crow women came for their water, I thought I d meet my wife there at that spot. So finally she showed up. She came for water, alone. I jumped on her, I jumped, trying to meet her. Oh, she s holding on my neck and both hugging and kissing each other, kissing each other, that s how much I was glad to meet my wife and she was glad she saw me. And she asked me: Why did you come up this way far? Come down this area far? Because I loved you so much, wife. I missed you a lot. I came for you. I want to take you back to the Blackfoot Nation, take you back north. Alright, I ll do that. But you wait here, you wait in this spot, in this brush. You just wait. I m gonna take my water back to the camp and I ll take my belongings and I ll come back. Make sure you stay right here. Alright, he told his wife, do you see that brush, pointing north? A little brush on the side of the hill. My brothers are there and your brothers are out there. There s seven of them out there, hiding. And I am the only one that came to see you. I loved you so much. That s my reason coming looking for you. So the woman, his wife went back for the camp, took his water back to the camp, got as far as the middle of the camp. She pretended, she was pretending, acting crazy-like, you know? Out-of-her-head-like. And the chief wanted to know what was wrong with the woman, what was the matter. Something wrong with that woman. She came out of the brush. So one of the braves, Crow braves, came up to her and asked her: What s wrong, what s the matter with you? Oh, I got a stroke. The Great Spirit, the Sun gave me seven persons. He had his seven fingers pointed out, just swinging around, just acting as if he was out of his mind. And he told the braves: You see that little brush way up north at that hill there? Well, there is seven persons there, seven Blackfoot Nations there, the sun gave me. And there is one sitting at the water hole there, waiting. And the Great Spirit ordered me not to destroy, not to kill this one person. That s her husband, but the rest to kill everyone of them. So the brave thought: Well, he might be right, she might be right. She might be right. We re not taking no chance. Let s all get up to this brush, see what s up there. So they all got their best running horses, their army horses and they all on horseback, they went for this brush. In no time everyone was shot to death, killed. Seven of them were all cleaned up in no time. They came back, they told the story to the Crows: We ve got seven individual enemies killed, up in that brush. That woman is telling the truth. And they went back to the water, to the river, where the women get their water and they found this Blackfoot member sitting in the brush, captured him, took him alive to the camp, took him in a big gathering tipi. Big meeting there with the chiefs and the braves. And he tells his wife: Oh, gee, I loved you so much. I came all this way just to see you. That s how much I loved you. I want you back. I want to take you back north. And everybody was smoking with a piece of pipe in the camp. So the head chief asked the Blackfoot woman: What is your husband saying? Well, I ll say this. Let me add 2
something to this story. In the future, your young generation sooner or later will be integrated. You might be marrying one of my generation daughters, or maybe some of my generation maybe marrying one of you school children, and I, make sure you love each other the way this Balckfoot Nation had loved to her wife. QUESTION [a female voice interjected the following question.]: He didn t have a very good wife to love, did he? No. Well, anyhow, that s a not one, any kind of people can double cross her husband and his wife. So this is, I am keeping the old story on. Well, anyhow, this woman would translate in the wrong way. This man told his wife: Why did you have to tell that to the chief? The chief asked: What is your husband saying? Oh, he says When you finished smoking stone pipe, dump the ashes on my chest. Hot red ashes out of this stone pipe smoking. Hot ashes, hot red ashes. They throwed him down, throwed him on his back and they poured hot ashes on his breast and he had a big burn right in his chest. Oh, he was under torture, all kinds of torture they done to this poor Blackfoot Nation. So the last one, he asked her again: What does your husband say? Well, he says Pour boiling broth over my skull, real hot boiling broth. Spill it over my skull, my head. They throwed him down again, they boiled broth, they pored this boiling broth, soup, on top of his scalp, which burned all his scalp, hair off and they took him outside, and the woman was told by the Great Spirit to not kill him, to go and tie him on a tree and give the body to the spirit, give the body, sacrifice it to the sun. Tie him there, we ll leave him. Tie him there! So, there was an old woman who was captured years ago back from the Crows [Was she a Crow who had been a prisoner among the Blackfoot previously, or was she a Blackfoot who lived among the Crows?] She understand every word that that woman was telling the Crow chiefs. She heard every bit of the fals translate everything into torture. Well, they got up and they had a meeting that they were going to move camp. Move into another location. Everybody was breaking down their camp, trying to pitch the tipis to another location. And this old woman that was captured years back heard everything. And he had a little Coolie dog, was called Saessum, an Indian name, Saewiskchye. And this dog would understand her master, just like a German police dog would listen to the RCMP. They re trained, you know? They listen. They know what you tell them to do. Well, it was the same kind of dopg in them days, in them old days. Well, this old lady told her dog: You go in the brush. Don t you come out! I ll be calling you. I ll be calling you, cursing you, but don t come out until the old [whole?] camp moves away. So she kept sitting down in her camp alone, this one old lady, and the chief came up to her: Why don t you get ready? We re moving camp. No, I can t right now. I am waiting for my dog. She went in the brush. She kept calling her dog Saewiskchye to come out. This chief believed her. So the camp broke out. Everybody was gone. She told the chief: As soon as my dog gets back, I m gonna follow. Just a minute. QUESTION [the same female voice interjected another question]: What did the dog s name mean? 3
Soiskchi? Means hairy, hairy. Wooly, or hairy. OK then, continue with my story. So the camp moved, the dog came out from the brush. By this time the old lady prepared some food for this Blackfoot who was tied on a tree, and had three pairs of moccasins, and, well, anyhow, he took the food to the Blackfoot who was tied on a tree, fed him with this pemmican food and meat and gave him three pairs of moccasins to wear on his way home. And the old lady had some wonderful, powerful herbs that will help her, help him with his scalded scalp. The scalp was all burned up and she gave medicine, rest medicine for it to heal up the Blackfoot s scalp. And she start to tell what his wife said to the chief. That s how he got all tortured, all different, cruel, cruel were the ways. So the Blackfoot was satisfied. He thanked the old lady for all false information wife made. So he told the old lady: By this time of the year, next year by this time, I ll be coming back. Trying to look for my wife again, I ll come back. I am going to bring back a big nation this time. I am not going to bring only seven. I am going to try to bring the whole nation. I ve got to get a hold of my wife this time. Well, he told, he advised the old lady: Whenever, when I come back next year, you always camp on one side of the circle. The camp used to be pitched in a circle, Crow camps. Always camp on one side, your relations, your son in laws, all your relations, camp on one side, so I know. When I come back, I can recognize the camp and I ll recognize your side camp. Don t join with the circle camp. Camp on one side. That s all I tell you. And every time the Crow locates a different camping, all stick out, or put a stick which direction camp move north, east or south, so I can follow these sticks when I look for my wife this time of the year. Then the Blackfoot started for home, walking. He had plenty food from this old lady, plenty moccasin to wear and the old lady put medicine on his scalp. He got home. I don t know how many days he walked, all the way from Montana to Blackfoot Crossing. He got back to the Blackfoot camp, up here, north, in Alberta. Whenever Blackfoot goes out into a battle with different tribes, when he comes back, if anybody is missing, he always puts something to the ground, make signs, just like one-two-three-like. And Blackfoot Nation would count, make signs, right to the ground, his arm up in the air, down to the ground, kept doing that, killed seven. So the Blackfoots know how many are missing. So he raised his hand, his arm seven times to the ground. So they knew seven were missing, he was the only one who was safe. So he got to the camp, was greeted by the chiefs and he told all, the whole story about his wife. What cruel the Crow were. Well, in the wintertime, when his head was all healed up, he filled up a peace pipe, stone pipe. He went and give smoke to every war leaders. Every one of these leaders smoked this pipe. If a leader refuses to smoke, he is scared to go. If he smokes this pipe, he is willing to go. So everyone of these leaders in them days, brave leaders we call them, warriors, they smoked. Every one of them smoked this pipe. And when this Blackfoot set the date when they were going to the Crow reserve again, but the same time, a year later, they start off to Montana area, United States. How many days? They took a whole army. I didn t know how many hundreds of Indians, all on horseback. And this woman that was captured by the Crows, her mother, her father went along this time. So they located the Crows camp when they got over there. Well, he told the army, Balckfoot braves: You just wait over this hill here. None of you come down to the camp. We ll wait till dark. When it gets dark, I am going to go down. You see this camp on one side of the circle? That s the old lady and his relatives. That s how I ll find out. That s how I ll locate the camp. So I ll go down there when it s dark and I ll 4
let the old lady know that tomorrow morning we re going to invade her camp. So I waited till dark and I went down to the camp. Nobody know I was amongst the people, amongst the Crows. It was dark. I went to this little tipi camp of this old lady. I looked through the door. Here the little Saewiskchye was sitting by the fire, the old lady was on one side, too, all alone. And I went in the tipi. I brought this Hudson Bay tobacco, Hudson Bay blanket and some food for the little dog. End of tape. 5