Week 10 Storytelling: "How the Blackfeet Women Saved the Men"

(Blackfoot Moccasins from crazycrow.com)

There once was a man who had two wives. The man thought his wives were lazy and wicked because his dinner was never cooked when he arrived home from the hunt. He did not recognize all that women had done for the Blackfoot people. The man took his complaint to the village elders in hopes that they would punish his wives. Instead, the chief woman sat him down and instructed him to listen to a story.

She began…

In the beginning, there were men and there were women, but the men and women did not yet know of each other. He who made us all created women and men separately. The men lived in one village and the women in another. The women and men were made differently. The men were strong and fast while the women were intelligent and cunning. The women were also strong and fast but the men more so. The women were the first to use the piskun - a pen at the foot of a cliff over which the buffalo were induced to jump - they were also knowledgeable in skinning and tanning hides. They made the best clothes and moccasins. The men were not as skilled at tanning and wore only robes made of wolf skin and crudely made moccasins while the women wore many finely made robes, dresses, and moccasins. 

One day Old Man was wandering and came across a camp of men. He decided to stay with them for a while. The men were fierce and strong but they were starving. They could only kill one buffalo at a time and the time of winter was fast approaching. They had no meat stored for winter for they ate all that they killed. There was none left to save. Old Man went off in search of food for the men to store for the winter. While Old Man was searching he came across two women driving buffalo into their piskun. Old Man stood for awhile watching them. He decided to approach to ask what they were doing and where they had found such fine clothes. The women were startled by Old Man because they need not know what he was. They decided to play dead. When Old Man reached the women he inspected them looking for some wound to see what had killed them. He found none. He decided to take the women back to the men’s camp to show them these new creatures. However, when Old Man tried to pick one of them up she kicked him in the nose! Old Man started to bleed and curse. The two women ran from Old Man as he tried to staunch the bleeding in his nose. He was furious so he chased after them. The women ran for their camp to tell Chief Woman what had happened.

When they reached the village they called out frantically for Chief Woman because Old Man was close behind them. Chief Woman ran out of her lodge to see what was the matter. The women told their story between gasps and pants. Chief Woman was very concerned about this new creature the women had discovered. Chief Woman every woman to get their lances and bows ready for when Old Man caught up. She instructed the women to hide around the edges of the camp and wait for Old Man.  Old Man ran into the center of the camp and was greeted by many spears. The women surrounded him and demanded to know what he was and why he had tried to take the two women who played dead.

“I am Old Man. I come from a camp on the other side of the ridge. I was taking them back to be healed. I searched for wounds but found none. I hoped we could heal them so that they may teach us their ways. They wear many fine hides and moccasins and drive the buffalo over the cliff to kill many at a time. We have only crude moccasins and wolfskin robes. The winter is coming and we will surely starve or freeze if they do not teach us their ways,” Old Man responded. 

The women lowered their spears and Chief Woman invited Old Man to eat in her lodge. They discussed many things while Old Man ate as much roasted meat as he could hold, for he was very hungry. After they talked for a very long time Chief Woman asked if the men from Old Man’s camp would like wives so that they may learn the ways of the women. Old Man readily agreed to this proposition and left to retrieve the rest of the men. When he arrived at his camp the men hurried to greet him. They had been worried because he had been gone for a long time. Old Man told them about the women, their fine clothes, and how they used the piskun to drive buffalo over the cliff. He told them that they were going to choose husbands to teach their ways. 

Old Man led his group to the camp of the women. The women had prepared a mighty feast and had laid out fine moccasins for all the men to wear. The men readily accepted these gifts. One by one the women chose a husband. Finally, Old Man and Chief Woman were the only ones left. Chief Woman had planned it this way because she wanted Old Man for herself. The women taught the men all about tanning hides and building piskuns. The men helped the women with their strength and speed. 

So you see - the wise woman concluded - without your wives, you would be cold and starving. We provide the robes and moccasins. We possess the knowledge of the piskun. Without women, the Blackfoot would be nothing. 

(Blackfoot Man, Woman, and horse from indianspictures.blogspot.com)

Author’s Note: For this story, I wanted to retain the tone and style of the original stories. I combined elements from “The Wolf Man” and “The Smart Woman Chief” to make a completely new story. I wanted to make this sort of like a fable - where there is a lesson at the end. I also wanted to keep the idea from “The Smart Woman Chief” that the Blackfoot people wouldn’t have some of their most useful tools if it hadn’t been for women’s intelligence. “The Wolf Man,” tells the story of a man who has two wives that do not work while he is away hunting, instead they visit their relatives in the village talking and socializing. The man is angry about this so he moves them far away from the village so there will be no one to talk to. The women are angry about this and dig a pit for their husband to fall into - trying to kill him. They are unsuccessful and the man is rescued by wolves and other nighttime predators. The man has his hands and head turned into that of a wolf. The wolf-man starts helping the wolves steal buffalo from the people. The village people set a trap and catch the wolf-man. They recognize him as the missing man. The man tells them that his wives have tried to kill him. The village suggests that he punish his wicked wives. The man says to give them to “the punishing society” because they know what to do with them and it ends with the women never being seen again. “The Smart Woman Chief” follows closely with the story above. Women and men are created separately and do not cross paths until Old Man runs into women heading buffalo into a piskun. The only real difference is that Old Man does not accept the chief woman’s marriage proposal because she shows up dirty and bloody from drying meat. The chief woman returns nicely dressed and picks another man, angering Old Man. Old Man tries to destroy their piskun but the chief woman turns him into a pine tree.